The 34 feature films of Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013)

Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013).

The flamboyant, outspoken and sometimes controversial showman director Michael Winner directed 34 movies over a period of 40 years, all of them interesting, a handful of them good. He worked a lot with Charles Bronson and Oliver Reed, and it helped a lot that he attracted some great stars to his movies.

Two of Winner’s best films are with Burt Lancaster, Lawman (1971) and Scorpio (1973). Other Winner’s winners are I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname (1967), Hannibal Brooks (1969), (arguably) The Nightcomers (1971), Chato’s Land (1972), and The Mechanic (1972).

Chato’s Land (1972) is the first of six films Bronson and Winner made together, followed by The Mechanic, The Stone Killer, Death Wish (1974), Death Wish II and Death Wish 3. It was Death Wish that defined the careers of both Winner and Bronson.

Winner’s 1964 film The System [The Girl-Getters] began a partnership with the actor Oliver Reed that also lasted for six films over 25 years.

The 1975 Farewell, My Lovely is set in 1941 but when Robert Mitchum returned to the role of Marlowe in director Michael Winner’s The Big Sleep in 1978, it was set in 1977.

The 34 feature films of Michael Winner are: Climb Up the Wall (1960), Shoot to Kill (1960), Some Like It Cool (1961), Old Mac (1961), Out of the Shadow (1961), Play It Cool (1962), The Cool Mikado (1963), West 11 (1963), The System (1964), You Must Be Joking! (1965), The Jokers (1967), I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname (1967), Hannibal Brooks (1969), The Games (1970), Lawman (1971), The Nightcomers (1971), Chato’s Land (1972), The Mechanic (1972), Scorpio (1973) The Stone Killer (1973), Death Wish (1974), Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), The Sentinel (1977), The Big Sleep (1978), Firepower (1979), Death Wish II (1982), The Wicked Lady (1983), Scream for Help (1984), Death Wish 3 (1985), Appointment with Death (1988), A Chorus of Disapproval (1989), Bullseye! (1990), Dirty Weekend (1993), Parting Shots (1999).

Winner featured in TV commercials he directed for the insurance company Esure between 2002 and 2009, with his trade-mark catchphrase ‘Calm down, dear! It’s just a commercial!’

Winner wrote his column Winner’s Dinners in The Sunday Times for more than 20 years until 2 December 2012. Winner’s Dinners came at a high price. On On 1 January 2007 he got the bacterial infection Vibrio vulnificus from eating an oyster in Barbados. He was infected with the hospital superbug MRSA while recovering. In September 2011, Winner was again admitted to hospital with food poisoning after eating raw meat dish steak tartare four days in a row.

His autobiography Winner Takes All: A Life of Sorts was published by Robson Books in 2006.

Winner may have supported Mrs Thatcher but he is remembered for his liberal views on gay rights. During a live TV episode of Richard Littlejohn Live and Uncut, he attacked the presenter (who had been in the middle of an attack on two lesbian guests) for his stance on same-gender marriage and parenting, saying: ‘The lesbians have come over with considerable dignity whereas you have come over as an arsehole.’

Michael Winner, who died on 21 January 2013, aged 77, was among the stars who were not honoured at the 85th Academy Awards’ traditional In Memoriam section on February 24 2013.

He turned down an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his part in campaigning for the Police Memorial Trust, saying ‘An OBE is what you get if you clean the toilets well at King’s Cross station.’

© Derek Winnert 2019

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Chato’s Land (1972) is the first of six films Bronson and Winner made together.